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Chapter Four: Leading Frustrations

Moonlight glimmered with silent brilliance through the open, sleek drapes of a downtown Maxville home. Shadows flickered along the inside walls, casting ethereal outlines from the body that moved and swayed with unnatural grace and regimented diligence.

A heavy silence dwelled within the darkened room, interrupted only by the harsh, strenuous breathing of its occupant. She collapsed heavily onto the cold, bare floor of her townhouse, basking in the silence and the buzzing that pounded with spent ease through the veins of her limbs.

Sweat trickled along her brow, making the various strands of damp, loose hair cling to the hollow curves of her face. Chilling air hovered about her skin, kissing away the sleek dampness as she tried with deliberate effort to calm the adrenaline rush that surged and coursed through the muscles of her body.

Through the haze of her senses, Evelyn stared calmly up at her ceiling, her mind and thoughts moving into an intense train of contemplation.

Her first day at Sky High had been a very interesting one, full of intrigue and a slew of quirky characters. She wondered idly with brief curiosity if Sensei Stick had actually planned this escapade as an ordered test of her sanity.

She felt like an outcast to life and normal people in general. Now, she felt like another type of outcast.

She didn’t have ambitions of becoming a superhero, villain, or sidekick and both the parental lines in which she had been descended from had been neither of the three. The school idolized her mother, yet not once had Elektra identified herself as a classified heroine of her generation.

The Hand had killed Evelyn’s grandmother in cold blood at a young and ripe age and, as a result, Elektra had sworn vengeance. The hate and the anger of loosing everyone close to her had led to the help of their destruction… as well as her own…

After surpassing minutes of silence, Evelyn stood on wobbly, unsteady legs. She knew from the soreness and from the strenuous three hour work out she had done, that her arms and legs would no doubt be aching and sore the following morning.

Amazingly, however, it had assisted successfully in venting out her immense frustration.

Looking out from her open window, Evelyn stared forlornly up at the gleaming moon above her. To say she felt alone in the world would be an understatement, for it was quite a literal sense in her individual case.

She felt like a ghost, as if she were only the living and breathing remnant existing of the woman who had birthed her. Living in shadows and secrets had been Evelyn’s life, a life unlived and unfulfilled. And it was of no particular wonder that no one at Sky High actually knew of her.

With every decision Sensei Stick made, there was always a definitive purpose behind it. This particular one left Evelyn curious if, even at best, suspicious. He was a very strange and confusing old man to pin down…

‘Can’t figure out everything, I suppose,’ Evelyn thought with a heavy sigh of defeat.

The only answer to be gained from such a question would be through time.

And that, Evelyn had alot of…

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As anticipated, her body ached throughout the period of her morning classes. Outwardly, she didn’t give show to the resulted pain in over-exerting herself whilst in her free time. Inwardly, however, she winced at every movement made by either arm or leg.

Her muscles protested, burning with every twist, turn, or step she made. She was beginning to regret working herself and her body so hard. Today would most certainly be the day of consequence for it.

She didn’t realize just how right she was soon going to be…

Lunch passed by, uneventful as usual, and Evelyn took that time to sift leisurely through the pages of her textbooks. Her subjects of classes were odd and unusual for a typical teenager. Students attending regular high school would have no doubt been either appalled over them or in complete, speechless marvel.

Closing her mad science book with a look of utter disgust, Evelyn picked up the thick volume for villain and hero history. Despite her contempt for either subject, curiosity got the better of her.

Table of Contents

Unit I: Classification of Heroes

Chapter One – Non-Powered Heroes

Chapter Two – Super Powered Heroes

Chapter Three – Underground Heroes

Rolling her eyes, Evelyn flipped to chapter three, “Underground Heroes”. There, she had found what she was looking for and stared in contemplative silence at a page with a portrait of a woman that strikingly resembled her mother. In fact, it was her mother.

Elektra --

“Alike to Bruce Wayne (see Batman. pp. 108-113), Elektra Natchios grew up in a life of privilege and prestige. She is one of history’s most elusive and reputable heroines of the underground classification. After the death of her mother by the Hand (see villain clans. pp. 401-423), she dedicated her life to her vengeance as well as their ultimate destruction.

Under the tutelage of a famous Kimagure master, Elektra became one of the most revered enemies of the world’s most dangerous villain clan. Her accomplishments are well known among the circles of superheroes, villains, and sidekicks alike.

She is known for her efficiency in unarmed combat as well as her proficiency and mastery of all weapons, most reputably, the sais. Under the disciplined ways of Kimagure, her abilities became heightened, giving her power to master through time, life, and even death itself.”

Bowing her head in silent anguish, Evelyn delicately traced the photograph imprinted upon the glossy page. Her mother was standing near an opened window, her sais weapons poised and drawn into a defensive position. Long brown hair framed her face, flowing about her torso and shoulders as if a gust of wind was striking her in a sinuous rhythm along her backside.

Red leather and golden armbands decorated her body, framing the sleek and muscular flesh beneath. It heightened the glamour image as much as the ferocious glare emitting from the orbs of her flashing, green eyes.

That was the image that everyone put to life when they heard or thought about her mother.

They didn’t envision the pain, the rage, and the deep anguish of a vulnerable woman underneath. They only saw the superficial illusion.

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After lunch was done and over with, Evelyn grudgingly reported to her third block class, her body still aching and burning in protest. This was a class that Evelyn, at present, was dreading to attend the most. It was Physical Education and if her actions of last night didn’t prove her full involvement in such activity, then the soreness of her muscles the next day certainly would.

She enjoyed physical athletics, it calmed her mind and allowed pure instinct to reign and take control of her body to the fullest of extremity. Focus and direct awareness of everything mastered the mental level of thinking, it was natural and the full element exposed in impulsive intuition.

But, at present time, she was in no particular shape to participate. The training and conditioning in which she had subjected herself to last night had been utterly brutal, something that would have no doubt been frowned upon even by her Sensei, had he seen and bare witnessed to it.

She sat alone in the midst of the occupied bleachers, clothed in gym sweats, sneakers, and the “Sky High” t-shirt assigned to her that afternoon in the girl’s locker room.

Her eyes scanned through the crowd absently. It wasn’t that she was looking for someone in particular, but more out of acute habit to memorize and evaluate her immediate surroundings to the point of well perfected accuracy.

“Save the Citizen” was the hyped up gym event that she was presently subjected to baring witness to. She watched in silence with utter boredom and disgust in her eyes. How fucking ridiculous…

And, to top it all off, her “favorite” pair of students were, at present, playing the villains within the gym’s arena. Lovely.

The game lasted for three minutes on the clock, running with two opposite paired teams, one villain (whose objective is to distract the others) and the other, superhero (whose goal is to “save the citizen”). She couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she spotted a metallic mulch machine over at stagecenter, an artificial dummy swinging and hovering wildly above it with an attachment made of a thick, braided strand of rope.

Wow... so original.

The clock stopped minutes later, moaning in a loud echo across the gymnasium walls, buzzing with an abrupt attention for a well done, “game over”. The villains had won the round.

"Lash and Speed," Coach Boomer shouted from the obscenely high perch of his chair, "Since MARTIN and WILSON'S citizen is now DEAD and MULCHED, pick your next opponents!"

She knew it was coming. In fact, she had anticipated it the moment she felt the piercing, eager eyes set themselves firmly upon her... "We pick Elektra," Lash announced, pointing at the girl with a malicious, predatorial grin crossing his face.

Great...

Boomer raised an eyebrow at him in silence, almost as if asking whether or not the boy had a death wish, but instead nodded his consent... "And...?"

Speed's expression mirrored his partner's eagerness, his chubby fingers pointing upward toward the bleachers. "We'll take little Stronghold Junior over there..."

"Talk about wanting a challenge," Boomer muttered into his clipboard with a shrug. "this should be interesting to see... ELEKTRA, STRONGHOLD, SUIT UP. YOU'RE NEXT!"

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A gawky, ordinary boy suddenly materialized next to her as Evelyn readily began to gear up. The appearance of this Stronghold kid definitely wasn't helping in boosting up her confidence. She was fucking sore as all god damn hell and now she was suppose to fight these clowns...? With him...!

Silently, she began cursing her Sensei in every single language that she could possibly speak in.

"So," the boy drawled nervously, "Do you have a game plan for this or should we start forming one now?"

Evelyn shrugged as she placed on her shoulder pads in silence. "What are your powers?" She finally asked.

"Super Strength."

Will waited for an answer, only to hear a mumbled grunt of, "Great, they teamed me up with a Neanderthal as collateral. I'm in heaven."

He frowned indignantly at the comment but chose to ignore it. “Well, uh… what are yours…? I mean, it’s kind of important to know so we can beat these guys.”

Rolling her eyes, Evelyn stopped her movements, her gaze turning sternly upon her “new partner”. “Look, the best I can do is blow their bodies clear across the room. I can manipulate elements but since we are severely lacking in that department, I don’t know what else to do besides try and literally beat the shit out of them. Problem is, the big guy is Speedy Gonzales and Stripes over there is Mr. Stretch Armstrong. So, if you have any ideas, Oh-Mighty-Schwarzenegger, please, feel free to enlighten me.”

Will’s brow furrowed in brief confusion. “Wait, how can you blow them clear across the room?”

He snapped his chest plate on with a resonating ‘click’ before awaiting his partner’s answer.

This was a very surreal moment to young Will Stronghold. He hadn’t participated in this since freshman year and at every single turn thus far, Boomer had managed to pair him with an out of the ordinary partner for this game. Upon hearing his name called, Zack had practically been hyperventilating, Magenta and Layla stared at him worriedly, Ethan whooped and cheered, and Warren had merely clapped him on the back whispering, “good luck”.

Last time it had been Warren paired with him… now Evelyn Elektra…?

“Breath,” She answered, “Breath is a form of element called air, and therefore, I can multiply the strength of it in my palm a thousand times over, making it as strong as a gust of wind.”

“Ha. Oh.”

“Anything else I try would be labeled as ‘foul’. So, I’m trying to play by the rules here… the best luck we have is for you to try to keep them off of my back for as long as possible and if I have a problem, Junior, all I can tell you is to grab ahold of something. And grab tight.”

Will nodded. “Gotcha… I’m Will, by the way,” he spoke, holding out an offered hand in friendship.

“Evelyn,” She answered back curtly, “But I don’t shake hands. Just try and keep your head in the game.”

Will couldn’t help it; he had to smirk wryly at the familiar comment.

Withdrawing his hand sheepishly, he nodded in quiet acceptance. ‘Layla wasn’t wrong about her,’ he thought humorously, his grin spreading, ‘She really does kind of act like Warren… sounds like him too…’